Face off in city Congress
| Date :13-Oct-2023 |
Staff Reporter
The infighting in city Congress came to the fore in the party’s review meeting held on Thursday at Mahakalkar Sabhagruh. Old rivals Narendra Jichkar and party’s city President Vikas Thakre had a face off at the start of the meeting. Looking at the ruckus, former minister Sunil Kedar and Leader of Opposition in State Council Vijay Wadettiwar left the meeting midway. A district-wise review meeting of Congress’ Nagpur Division was convened on Thursday at Mahakalkar Sabhagruh. The Congress Committees of Nagpur City, Nagpur (rural), Wardha, Gondia, Gadchiroli, Bhandara, Chandrapur city, Chandrapur (rural) were to be reviewed district-wise under the chairmanship of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee President Nana Patole. The review of Nagpur City Committee began first. Leader of Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar, ex-Union Minister Vilas Muttemwar, State Working President MLA Kunal Patil, City President and MLA Vikas Thakre, ex-minister Dr Nitin Raut, ex-minister Sunil Kedar, ex-minister Satish Chaturvedi, ex-minister Dr Anees Ahmed, MLC Adv Abhijit Wanjarri, State Women Wing President Sandhya Sawalakhe, State Coordinator Nana Gawande, State Spokesperson Atul Londhe, State Social Media Head Vishal Muttemwar, Atul Kotecha, and others were seated on the stage.
Initially, Patole briefed the audience then Thakre addressed the gathering. After his speech, he declared that the review of City Committee was over. Suddenly, Narendra Jichkar, MPCC office-bearer rose, took the podium and expressed his wish to speak. Thakre opposed and allegedly pushed him away. This was unexpected for Jichkar. He tried to stand up, but a lot of party volunteers gathered near the stage and dragged him to the other end of the stage. He lost his balance and fell down. This triggered a heated squabble and supporters from both sides came to blows. Nana Patole, Satish Chaturvedi, Anees Ahmed, Prashant Dhawad, Atul Kotecha, Bunty Shelke, Youth Congress leader Wasim Khan tried to calm down both the groups. But the fighting took an ugly turn as somebody tore Jichkar’s shirt. No worker was in a mood to listen to even Patole, the MPCC President.
The chaos continued for nearly 20 minutes. It is visible in the video that went viral on social media, that some Congress workers were hitting each other after a heated argument. Narendra Jichkar later told media that as per Udaipur Resolution, nobody should remain on one post for more than five years. “Probably, my demand was taken otherwise and I was attacked by our President. I got an information that goons were hired in a planned manner and planted at the meeting venue. They were not party workers. Some of my supporters came to my rescue, else I would have been hurt badly. By organising various social programmes to mark our leaders’ birth anniversaries, I am trying to send a good message to the masses. I respect all our senior leaders, including Nana Patole, so I did not have any bad intention,” explained Jichkar.
In response to the allegations of Jichkar, Thakre said, “Jichkar has lost mental balance. Why should I bring goons? Being the party’s city President, I was responsible for the good conduct of the meeting. As far as his allegations about my long tenure as President are concerned, I have already submitted my resignation. I have been recommending since long that somebody should be given the baton. I am myself not interested to stay as the city unit chief.” In the same meeting, Wadettiwar too was not allowed to speak. According to sources, some Congress leaders and workers raised slogans when Wadettiwar came on the podium to speak. Recent remarks of Wadettiwar about Rahul Gandhi was the reason behind the anguish of the workers.